Megalomaniac
by xCissneix
Summary: The first time she saw him, he seemed like Prince Charming. He's changed since then. Cissnei's thoughts on her first crush, a young Rufus Shinra. A/N: Could also be slight, one-sided Tseng/Cissnei. And...Square-Enix owns them. CHAPTER 2 REVISED.
1. Just a Little Crush

My first crush was a hopeless case. I first saw him when he came to Midgar for a meeting with his father, and I was struck dumb at how young he looked. I mean, he couldn't have been older than me, and I was thirteen.

It didn't help that he was male model gorgeous, either. Tseng watched, amused, as my mouth opened and closed soundlessly when the door finally shut behind the blonde boy (I _refused _to call him a man at that point). He chuckled quietly and walked away, back towards his office, pausing for a moment when he realized I wasn't following him.

"Who was that?" I was fully aware that I looked like a complete idiot staring at the door like that, but I couldn't make myself turn away.

"Rufus Shinra, the Vice President."

I sighed and closed the distance between my superior and myself, following him back to his office.

I saw him for the second time in Junon, when I had been sent as a replacement for one of his bodyguards.

He hadn't changed much, the only real difference was his height. Well...the only real physical difference.

Back then, he seemed kind of nervous, walking into the board room for the first time, looking to impress. Now...Gods, was he arrogant.

The next time I saw Tseng was at the ceremony in Junon celebrating "President Rufus." He looked at me with a knowing glance, watching my behavior around the young President.

Later, when he could get away from that wretched blonde, we had dinner at a quiet, secluded restaurant. "Well?" he asked expectantly as we sipped our drinks and looked over the menu.

"Well what?"

"What of your crush on the President?" He looked more amused than I had seen him in a long time.

I blushed furiously, glancing around to make sure no one heard. "Nothing's become of it. Let it go!" I whispered angrily across the small table.

"And why not?" He raised a thin eyebrow in curiosity. He knew I wouldn't dare lose my temper in such a public place.

"Because he's an ass!" I whispered again.

Tseng looked at me in mock horror. Oh, he was enjoying this. Suddenly, he became serious again. I looked around and caught a glimpse of white enter the restaurant, accompanied by a harpy from some high-society family. The girl was pretty, but she obviously wasn't enough to keep his wandering eye. It eventually alighted on Tseng and myself, and he smirked slightly, turning to his date.

I turned back to my menu, groaning inwardly. Tseng chuckled quietly. They headed in our direction slowly, coming to a halt at a table a few yards away. The President looked at me, still smirking, obviously realizing that I had been that girl from long ago, staring open-mouthed at a closed door.

That was the first time I ever _wanted_ to be invisible_._


	2. Never Say Never

I wasn't thrilled that I was leaving Junon. Tseng wasn't either.

He walked around my boxed-up apartment sullenly with a scowl on his face. Under normal circumstances, I suspected Tseng would have been happy for me to join them at Midgar, if only to help keep Reno in line. But, since a rather long meeting with Rufus Shinra had preceded the decision, well…I knew it was a different matter entirely.

I had just finished packing when my cell phone rang, a nice cheery tune I had picked out for Reno. I sighed, and answered. "Hello?"

"You're coming to Midgar?" Even over the phone he sounded cocky.

"Yeah." My voice was level, which probably did nothing to hide the fact that I wasn't happy.

"Great, babe." I clenched my jaw tightly. It didn't matter how many times I told him not to, he still called me 'babe.'

"Yeah," I replied, keeping my voice smooth and even, refusing to give him any enjoyment out of baiting me.

"Right. I'll see you at the helicopter, babe." He hung up, and I sighed again, still irritated.

"Reno?" Tseng asked, sitting on a box in what used to be my living room.

"Yeah. He's excited, I guess." Something told me not to mention the 'babe' thing to Tseng, especially since he already seemed to have reservations about me returning to Midgar with them.

"He's not the only one," he said bitterly. He seemed resigned to something, but I could tell that, whatever it was, he wanted to fight it.

"What, aren't you happy about it?" I stood a couple feet away from him, hands on my hips, watching his face carefully.

"Certainly, yes. But…I wish it were under different circumstances."

"Meaning?" He had peaked my curiosity this morning when he had stomped into my apartment without a notice or a knock and I was determined to drag the real reason for his irritation out of him before we departed, Unfortunately, he stuck to his Turk training resolutely, refusing to give any information.

"I wish it had nothing to do with the President wanting you there." Or…he could just tell me everything I want to know. What can I say? Sometimes Tseng surprises you. "Now, we have to go, or we'll miss the helicopter." He headed for the door, moving slowly.

"Would that be so bad?" I stayed put for a second longer, giving my Junon apartment one last glance before following the older man.

Tseng chuckled darkly, pausing for a moment with his hand on the doorknob. "Not for you." I tensed, suddenly feeling the anxiety I had about leaving rush to the surface. He turned to look at me, a small smile playing on his lips. "I was only kidding, Cissnei. Come on." I followed him out, and he led me through the city I had slowly come to enjoy, stopping at a bar near the helicopter pad. "Wait here a moment," he said, slipping through the doors. I didn't mind waiting, especially since I wasn't particularly fond of bars. I had never been to this one though, and I could feel a small tugging at the back of my mind, urging me to explore before I was unable to.

Ignoring the notion, I leaned against the wall outside, breathing in the air. Sure, Junon wasn't exactly pollutant-free, but it was definitely cleaner air than in Midgar. I would miss it. The opening of the door alerted me to Tseng's return with a blond woman in tow, and Reno and Rude following leisurely.

Tseng gave me a small smile for reassurance. It might have worked, if I hadn't looked at the blonde woman after that. The glare coming from her was enough to make me want to go back to my apartment, lock the door, and forget about going back to Midgar. Instead, I settled for cringing inwardly. _Great, _I thought. _I don't even know her name and she hates me. _She looked an awful lot like Rebecca, a gun-wielding Turk from the days of Zirconade.

Apparently noticing the tension, Tseng made introductions. "Elena, meet Cissnei," he said slowly. I could tell he was making an effort to be pleasant, and the woman's obvious dislike of me was wearing thin on his patience.

Elena, Rebecca's naïve, petulant sister. Whenever I had seen her, she looked on the Turks with disdain, and Rebecca would scoff as she walked by. I was slightly surprised that she had joined our ranks.

"Cissnei!" Reno slipped away from Rude's side and put an arm around my shoulders. "How ya doin', babe?" Elena made a noise and her nose lifted slightly. I wondered if it was because she'd been a victim of Reno's lifestyle or if she was just one of those people who had a perpetual disregard for him.

"I'm fine, Reno," I said tersely, sliding his arm off. I looked at his partner who was watching us with a ghost of a smile on his lips. "Rude." My head inclined slightly. I had always liked Rude, but there had been a lot of tension between us since what Reno called "The Chelsea Incident." If he blamed me, I couldn't fault him for it.

He surprised me. "Cissnei," he said, nodding back.

Elena piped up, tugging on Tseng's sleeve like a little girl asking her mother for a cookie. "Sir, we're going to be late."

Tseng looked at his watch, pulling his arm out of Elena's reach. "Indeed we are, if we don't get moving. I'm sure the President's anxious to leave." He sent a small, nearly unnoticeable smile my way, and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

When we reached the helicopter, Rufus was already there, tapping his foot impatiently. "Where have you been?" He asked as we walked up. He was dressed in the same white suit he always wore, with Dark Nation trailing around at his feet.

"It was my fault, sir," Tseng said respectfully. I glanced at my watch; we were less than two minutes overdue. I tried not to look irritated, but I must've failed miserably.

Seeing my face, Rufus sighed. "Very well then, Tseng. Let's not waste more time." Reno bolted happily for the chopper, Rude following behind at a slower pace. They strapped themselves in as we climbed in, and Elena stole the seat next to Tseng. I frowned; that meant I had to sit next to Rufus.

"Tseng, when we reach Midgar, you will show Cissnei her apartment, then report straight to me," he nearly yelled as the helicopter fired up. Tseng only nodded in reply. "The cleanup crew should be finished by the time we've arrived, or at least clearing out. I never imagined that one person could make such a mess," Rufus trailed off, looking out the window at the passing landscape below.

"Sir?" I asked, slightly startled. Tseng hadn't told me exactly why Rufus was returning to Midgar, and I had never asked. Seeing my superior so flustered about _me _returning to Midgar had erased the questions from my head.

"Tseng didn't tell you?" He smirked. It reminded me of Reno in a way, like the way he used to smirk at the women in the bars before going home with one of them. "Sephiroth went on a rampage through Shinra. Killed most of the people there, though I'm sad to say he missed Hojo."

I looked at Tseng, who confirmed the story with a grim nod. Even Elena had a shadowed look on her face. I looked back at the president, who had dropped the smirk, and had returned to watching the landscape below us pass by.

About an hour later, we reached Midgar and, as ordered, Tseng and I departed to go check out my new apartment. We walked slowly, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, just to waste time. Neither one of us was in much of a hurry to get where we were going, and we most certainly weren't in a hurry to return to the new President.

We finally reached the apartment after climbing what seemed like hundreds of flights of stairs. The door had the familiar keycard lock, and Tseng slid the tiny card through before passing it to me. The apartment itself was a little bigger than the one in Junon, and the furniture was brand new. All my boxes were stacked neatly in one corner of the living room. Tseng sighed, apparently impressed. "Mine looks nothing like this."

"Really?" It seemed odd that my apartment wasn't with the other Turks.

"It's a couple of floors down. You remember, right?" He looked at me, curiously.

I did. It was about the same size as the apartment I had had in Junon, but not nearly as nicely furnished. Tseng seemed to enjoy keeping his surroundings Spartan, a trait I'm sure he picked up from Verdot. The walls were white and plain, his single couch was black and situated dead center in the middle of the living room. His kitchen was kept pristinely clean, and I was never sure if it was because he never cooked or he just cleaned obsessively. The bathroom was always just as clean and just as plain, and his bedroom looked like no one had slept in it in years. I wondered if that had changed since Elena had shown up, put I pushed the thought away. "Yeah, I remember. I was just hoping that it had changed since then."

He laughed bitterly. "I don't spend much time there, Cissnei. I practically live in my office. If it helps to know, though, I have bought a bigger television." We stood in silence for a moment before he crossed the room, pulling out a chair from the dining set and sitting down. He gestured for me to join him, and I did, sitting across from him. "I suppose I should tell you what's been going on in Midgar lately."

I leaned back a little, trying to get comfortable in the stiff wooden chair. "I suppose you should." I gave up on trying to get comfortable and settled on leaning forward against the table, arms crossed in front of me.

"The former President was killed in Sephiroth's rampage through Shinra. At the time, we were holding AVALANCHE and Aerith." His voice was smooth until he mentioned Aerith. Her name escaped his lips hesitantly.

"And?" While I wasn't thrilled to hear that Aerith had been brought into Shinra by the Turks, I was relieved to hear she was still alive.

"They escaped, though with difficulty. Rufus battled with Cloud. Some of the other members of the group had some trouble with the elevators, I believe." My mouth went dry at the mention of Cloud. I hadn't known for sure that he had survived the attack by the military, and was now upset that he had joined AVALANCHE. Was he trying to get himself killed? Was he even aware of the sacrifice Zack had made to keep him alive?

"Who died?" I struggled to keep my composure, and Tseng, in a rare moment of compassion, reached across the table, taking one of my hands into his. They were warm but not necessarily soft; the years of gun wielding had taken their toll, leaving calluses.

"I was out on assignment, along with Elena." He was beating around the bush, preferring to tell me who lived, rather than everyone we had lost. "Reno was in the hospital after being injured while dropping the plate on Sector 7. Rude was with him, visiting."

"What about the others?" I kept my voice even, not wanting to tip him off to my growing impatience. I appreciated the fact that he was trying to shelter me from whatever horror had taken place recently, but I needed to know what was going on. The Turks were the only family I had ever known, and I wanted to know just how much of that family had been taken away from me.

"Dead or severely injured," he began tentatively. "Rebecca died in the hospital about a week ago." He watched my face carefully as he delivered the news.

"Is that why Elena was hired?" I smirked just a little, trying to lighten the mood.

Tseng looked at me sharply. "No. She was hired as a temporary replacement for Reno." He leaned back a bit, not letting go of my hand. I wondered vaguely how the possessive blonde would react if she walked in.

"Well…Reno's back, and she's still here." I had never really liked her, even back in the day. Rebecca was an excellent Turk, and Elena just seemed to resent it.

"We're shorthanded, Cissnei." Tseng sounded exhausted. It was common for him to get very few hours of sleep, but I doubted that he had slept at all in the past couple of weeks. That, coupled with the stress of a changing regime, just seemed like a formula for disaster.

"I figured you'd have to be, for you to leave your office." It was common knowledge that Tseng didn't do much field work, instead being saddled with the ever-growing mound of paperwork that the rest of the Turks generated. Things had to be bad, if he was being sent on recon jobs, even if the target was Aerith.

"Ha ha. Very funny, I'll have to tell that one to Reno." Yeah, right. You don't tell anything to Reno unless you want the information spread throughout Midgar by the next morning. The red-headed bar hopper was a steady leak of gossip, and became a veritable fountain of information once he got a few drinks under his belt.

"What about Darius? I just got a letter from him last week." The swordsman always kept in touch, even when it probably wasn't the best idea. Even so, his letter had mentioned nothing of the great general's rampage through the company.

Tseng looked at me, surprised. "So he lived, then? He was run through with his own katana. After about two days in the hospital, he insisted on being taken back to Gongaga. Not the smartest thing he's done, but if he's alive, I suspect he'll be called back soon enough."

"Hm. So Elena's not leaving then?" A girl could hope, right?

Tseng chuckled, squeezing my hand gently. "No. Just…try to get along, okay?"

"Kinda hard when she glares at me all the time. But…I'll do my best." I smiled and squeezed back.

"You do that." Letting go of my hand, he stood, straightening his jacket and heading for the door. "We should probably head back before they send a search party." I nodded in agreement, before following. Tseng held the door open for me, and we started down the hall, heading for the elevator. About halfway down the hall, the doors opened, revealing a panicked Elena.

"Sir, the President's been asking for you." She fidgeted with her sleeves, looking nervously at her superior.

"That's where we're headed, Elena," Tseng replied, thinly veiling the exasperation in his voice.

The elevator ride was silent and we disembarked when we reached our floor, footsteps echoing past the empty desks where the Turks used to work. Rufus looked up as we entered the office, smirking slightly when his eyes landed on me.

"I trust the accommodations are to your liking?" He had that all-knowing glance that Reno wore so often when scoping out his next one night stand.

Resisting the urge to walk over and smack that look off his face, I replied calmly, "Yes, sir. Thank you."

"My pleasure." I barely noticed Tseng's body stiffen beside me. "Tseng, take Elena and see if any of the security footage from the holding cells survived. AVALANCHE may have said something about their next destination."

"But sir, we already-" Tseng protested, looked slightly apprehensive.

"We need confirmation on that," Rufus' annoyed tone was enough to silence Tseng's objections, and Tseng walked out, Elena following him.

"Sir?" I asked, moving closer to the desk. Rufus was working steadily on the pile of paperwork on his desk.

Rufus looked up from the form he was signing. "Yes?" His tone was no longer annoyed, but smooth.

"Is there something for me to do?" As I said the sentence, I regretted it. If he had a sex drive anywhere near that of Reno's, that one question sounded like an invitation.

Rufus smirked. "No. Just stay here and relax. You can find a chair if you wish." He went back to his paperwork, idly scribbling away orders.

I sat quietly in a chair near the window, watching the city below. Midgar was different from Junon, that much was certain. In Junon, when the lights went out, the city was dark. In Midgar, not so much. The city seemed haunted, an eerie glow cast over the city by the reactors.

When the city lights started disappearing, and the streets were nearly dark, I looked at my watch. "Sir, it's nearly midnight. Shouldn't you think about stopping for the night?"

He turned and looked at me curiously. "But I've barely done anything." I resisted the urge to chuckle. How many times had I heard Tseng say that in recent years? Too many, and now it seemed like we had another workaholic on our hands.

I looked at the huge stack of paperwork that had gone from one side of the desk to the other. "Sir, with all due respect, you've done a lot, considering it's your first night."

Still watching me, he raised an eyebrow. "Eager to get to bed, are you?"

I looked at him startled, unsure of his meaning. "No sir. I'm just worried about the effect on your health." I smiled sweetly, biting back any comments I would have flung at Reno.

He watched my face for a long moment, and then studied his desk. "I suppose you may be right. We have had a long day." He unlocked a drawer of his desk and put the papers inside before standing up. "Shall we?" He made a sweeping gesture with his arm, allowing me to leave first. He locked the door behind him and we walked in silence to the elevator.

We got in and I pushed the button to my floor. Rufus stared out the window, hands in his pockets. "Sir? What floor did you want?"

"Hm?" He looked that the panel of buttons and smirked. "Oh, that one's fine."

A chill went down my spine. Was he planning on following me home?

We reached the floor and I stepped out, Rufus close behind. I reached my door, unlocking it swiftly. I felt someone behind me, and I stiffened. There was a low chuckle and I turned around to see Rufus, standing less than six inches away from me. He stepped forward and pressed me against the wall, his lips next to my ear. "I'm just down the hall if you want anything." He backed away slowly and sauntered down the hall, much like what Reno would do. I watched him unlock the last door at the end of the hall and slip in before I went inside my apartment and locked the door.

I reached into my pocket, feeling for my cell phone. Pulling it out, I noticed I had several missed calls, most of them from Tseng, and a couple from Reno. I called Reno first, since I was pretty positive he would answer this late at night.

"Hello?" The deep voice on the other end was definitely not Reno.

"I- uh, Rude? What are you doing with Reno's cell phone?" It was pretty uncommon for Reno to pass off his cell phone, even when drinking.

"Said you might call. Didn't want to miss it." That would explain it, then.

"Do you know what he wanted?" I toyed nervously with a strand of my hair.

Rude grunted on the other end. "No. Tseng called earlier, though. He sounded worried."

"Thanks. I'll see you tomorrow." There was another grunt before the line disconnected.

I sighed. Calling Tseng would probably keep me on the phone for another hour, but I didn't want to risk him losing even more sleep if he really was worried. I dialed his number and pressed the phone to my ear.

It only rang once. "Cissnei?" Tseng's voice was edged with worry.

"Yeah?" Something was going on, I could tell. Tseng _never _worried about little things.

"Are you alright?" Suspicion crept into his voice, and alarm bells started ringing in my head.

"Why shouldn't I be?" I raised an eyebrow, even though he couldn't see it.

"First day back in Midgar." His voice was more composed now, allowing the lie to slide easily through his lips. Just what I needed, to be in the dark and have the only person I completely trusted spouting nonsense at me.

"Oh." I let the irritation seep into my voice.

"And you were alone with the President." Okay, maybe he's not lying to me. My heart jumped a little for no apparent reason. Glass clinked together on the other end, and I knew he was drinking.

"Oh, jeez. Why's it such a big deal?" As far as I was concerned, the President posed no real threat. He was just a silly flirt, and I just happened to be one of the few approachable women in Shinra.

"If it happens too often, people will become suspicious. And then you're just as much a target as he is." I could hear the worried edge again, and a gulp as he downed whatever was in the glass.

My heart dropped. "Oh." There was something about this situation that didn't feel right, and I wasn't sure it had anything to do with Rufus, and more to do with the fact that I had caused Tseng to worry more in the past couple of weeks than I had in my entire career.

"And I'd hate to see you get hurt." The worry was still there, but he sounded more composed.

"Don't let your girlfriend hear you say that," I teased, smirking at the rookie's obvious admiration for him.

"Gods, not you too." I could practically hear his eyes roll at the joke. Glass clinked again, and this time I could hear the liquid being poured.

I chuckled. "It's pretty obvious, Tseng."

There was a pause as he took a drink. "I should slip and say something to the president." His voice was flat and even, giving me no indication as to what was really going on in his head. Another gulp.

My lips pressed together. "You wouldn't dare."

He took another drink and laughed dryly. "I'm kidding with you." He seemed to be doing that a lot lately, and it was starting to worry me. Reno and I had always said that Tseng joking would bring the apocalypse. "It would only encourage him," he added bitterly. Again, I could hear the clink of glass on the other end. It wasn't incredibly unusual for Tseng to have a drink or two, but he normally nursed them like a man would nurse water in the desert. And as far as I could tell, this was at least his third drink.

"Listen, Tseng…Something happened." I tried not to sound anxious, not wanting him to down another glass.

"What?" The worried edge in his voice had disappeared. He sounded angry now, and that was something that hadn't happened since Veld defected. I heard the glass hit wood as he set it down.

"Just…come over early tomorrow. We'll go have breakfast and I'll tell you." _And give you aspirin for the hangover I'm sure you'll have, _I thought.

"Cissnei-" He sounded panicked.

I cut him off. "Goodnight, Tseng." He needed to get some sleep, and he couldn't do that if I kept him on the phone.

"Don't hang-"

I hit the button on my phone and turned it off, tossing it on my bed. Grabbing a set of pajamas out of a box, I headed for the bathroom. I took a hurried shower and dressed before checking the lock on the front door. As I walked away, there was a soft knock, and I hurried to look through the peephole. If it was Rufus, I doubted he would bother knocking, but I wanted to be sure.

I let out a sigh of relief when the blonde was nowhere in sight. Tseng stood near the door, dressed his uniform pants and shirt. I noticed his jacket and tie were gone, and half the buttons on his shirt were undone. Opening the door, I did my best to look calm.

"Do you sleep in those?" I asked, cocking my head to the side.

He chuckled. "No. I was just getting out of the shower when you called." I felt a pang of guilt. He looked tired, and I could faintly smell the alcohol, but I was relieved that he hadn't just been drinking alone, in the dark before I called. He looked at me expectantly and I ushered him inside, where he leaned against the wall. He raised an eyebrow in question. "So, what happened?"

Sighing, I walked to the dining set and dropped into a chair, clasping my hands and resting them on the table. He followed, sitting in the same seat he had before when he showed me my apartment. Quietly, I told him about the incident in the hallway, nervously playing with my hands as I spoke. Tseng did nothing, staring at the table with a tense expression on his face. "You can't be alone with him anymore, Cissnei."

"Tseng! It's not like he's going to try anything. He's like Reno; it's all talk." I tried to sound completely certain, but failed. Truth was, I was less than fifty percent certain that he wouldn't try anything.

"We don't know that for sure." He leaned back, watching me cautiously. I could see the wheels turning in his head, probably wondering if my past crush on the President was affecting my ability to think this through rationally.

"Tseng. This is my job. If it requires being alone with him occasionally…Well, I'll live with it. It's not like he kissed me or anything." I was anxious now, and not because of the situation with Rufus. There was something in Tseng's eyes that was unfamiliar, and it scared me. He may not be the type to openly share feelings with anyone, but if you knew him well enough you could tell what was going on by watching his eyes. But this look was completely foreign.

Almost as soon as it had came, it disappeared and his eyes darkened. In the dimly lit kitchen, I could see Tseng's lips tighten. "Not yet, he hasn't." Standing up, he held out his hand. Cautiously, I took it, and he wordlessly led me out of my apartment and down the hall, shoving the door to the stairwell open. We paused long enough to force the door shut without a sound, and then he sped off again, down the stairs, dragging me along for the ride.

I didn't ask where we were going, because I already knew and when we reached his floor, he threw the door open, still dragging me by the hand. We didn't stop this time because there was no one on this floor that we were running from. Swiftly unlocking his door, he pulled me into his apartment.

It was almost exactly the same. He had bought a new television, like he said, and it was bigger than the last. His couch was newer, too, but still the same black. It looked just as uncomfortable as the last. In the kitchen, a nearly empty bottle of gin sat on the counter next to an abandoned crystal glass.

Tseng disappeared for a moment, returning from his bedroom with a pillow. "I'll take the couch; you can have my bed." I stood for a moment, watching him.

"Why are you doing this?" I asked, curious. I knew Tseng was a private person, and once I had hit my teens, I gave him his space.

"You're nowhere near being unpacked. You'd have to sleep on your couch," he replied smoothly, not even looking at me. He tossed the pillow on his couch before unceremoniously flopping down beside it.

"But _you _have to sleep on _your _couch," I countered, still watching him. My couch at least _looked _comfortable. If Tseng's new couch was anything like the old one, it felt like you were sitting on the concrete blocks stacked in the Slums.

He glanced over the top of his couch, looking at me. "It's not the first time, Cissnei." He laid back down, settling himself. Sighing, I continued to the back where I knew his room was.

Like the rest of the house, Tseng's room was sparsely furnished, and what little furniture the room contained was black. There was nothing on top of the plain dresser. The lamp on the small black bedside table was on, and there was something slim leaning against it. I ran my hand along the black comforter, tugging at edge and pulling it black. Climbing in, I nestled into the covers, wrapping myself up in a cozy cocoon. The bedding smelled clean, like it had just been washed. Soon after, I drifted off to sleep, the scent of detergent lingering in my nostrils.


End file.
